Tuesday, June 5, 2007

A lot of things have happened in the last two (wow) months. I moved into the new place with Alex, and two girls I know from college. The house is big and awesome. It is amazing how much difference having so much more space is. We have the second floor, a big bedroom and a smaller study room, with a twin bed for guests. There's a yard where I'm growing tomatoes, basil, parsley, sunflowers, nasturtium, dill, and oregano. I planted a lot more but those are the only things that came up. We've been grilling at least twice a week, fighting the mosquito invasion that comes with leaving the house. Puff is turning into a real dog, with so much space she runs around like mad and has even started playing with balls! My cat has also moved back in, after a year-long vacation to my dads house in New York, where she was loved by my sisters.

We have a huge kitchen. With counters. And cabinets. And a tile floor. And a new oven. I've been baking non-stop since we moved in. I have to force myself to not bake new things every day. I had my 25th birthday, Alex had his 30th. We celebrated by resting from the move. I got, among other things, an ice cream maker and a pasta roller, one of those hand crank things that clamp onto the side of the table. Both have been heavily used. I got two new gluten-free baking books. I discovered how to make gnocchi. (Also, how to spell it). I made "matzo ball" soup. Lemon meringue pie. Oreos. Scallion pancakes. Cinnamon buns. I discovered pavlovas. I made my first key lime pie. I found a gluten-free (and confusing) mix for dumpling dough at the Asian grocery store. I forget all the things that have happened. But I'm back. We have the internet, Alex has a mac that he lets me use. It's been so long since I've sat at a computer. it feels weird. So, hello, I'm back, now here are some recipes.

OreosThis recipe was adapted from the mouthwatering post over at smitten kitchen. It made the switch to gluten-free easily, and impresses all my friends. I've made the filling with coconut and mint flavors as well as the original one, both were delicious. These are so easy.

Pulse dry ingredients in food processor. Add butter, cut into pieces, pulse again until butter pieces are pea-sized. Add eggs one at a time, then mix until incorporated. drop by small spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet, bake at 375 for 9(ish) minutes, cool on pan.

Mix everything in food processor. Thank God I got one of these for Christmas a few years ago.

Also, I have been making ice cream, and I used this recipe to make a base for an ice cream cake. instead of baking the batter as individual cookies, I pressed it into a 9x9 pan and baked it longer (until a knife inserted in the center came out clean), then greased a large glass bowl, pressed the cookie mixture onto the sides of the bowl, then froze it. Then I made ice cream, and when it was done I poured it into the bowl on top of the cookie mixture. I then let it freeze until hard, turned it out onto a plate, and served it.

When do you fill the cookies? I tried it the first time when they were cool and it didn't spread well. The second time, it spread better, but the cookies kind of fell apart. Good thing they don't have to be in one piece to taste good.

I just made these and they are awesome. A couple of additions to the recipe directions:

-you can also use a stand mixer or hand mixer-bake them until they fall flat or they may be too soft for icing and may fall apart. Mine took 12 minutes. -cool them on the pan, but take them off when they are still a bit warm or they may stick to the pan-a tiny bit of milk can be added to the icing in order to make it spread easier (depends on how soft your other ingredients were when you added them.)

I would try increasing the flour by 1/4 to 1/2 cup (depending on the consistency) and adding some vanilla extract to taste. I am unsure of the quantity of vanilla but I would look at another cookie recipe similar in size and add that amount.

I just found this recipe on smitten kitchen and when I saw a link here I went oooh!! Thank you so much for posting this :) I'm just dipping my toes into gluten-free cooking and I appreciate the guidance.